“Lekker” & More South African Slang You Need To Learn
Unsplash: Marc Herve
Picture this: you are in Cape Town, South Africa contemplating
on how to reach the summit of the iconic Table Mountain. Is it
better to trek one of its several hiking trails or take a scenic
cable car ride? Hmm, both options are pretty good so either you
decide to walk a hiking trail or fly over to the peak on a cable
car, there's no doubt that your experience won't be as memorable
as ever. Honest.
Now, zigzagging your way all over Cape Town and
other cities of South Africa may sound daunting. But it
shouldn’t be, because South Africans are quite friendly.
Besides, most of them speak and understand English along with
its other 10 official languages. Yep, South Africa has 11
official languages (that’s a story for another day)! And because
there are so many different languages spoken there, locals ended
up borrowing and incorporating various words to produce a
special slang known as South Africanisms. These phrases are used
by locals all over the country, so it’s always very helpful to
know at least a handful of them. I mean… you don’t want to freak
out when you hear someone telling you to not run a yellow robot.
Right?
- Lekker: great, nice, tasty
- Howzit: how’s it going
- Yebo: yes
- Bra, brah, bruh: male friend
- Jol: to have fun, to party
- Tekkies, takkies: sneakers
- Skinner: to gossip
- Braai: barbecue
- Dof: stupid
- Doss: sleep
- Eina: ouch
- Izzit: is it
- Larny: something fancy
- Cozzie: swimsuit
- Ag man: oh man
- Domkop: idiot
- Hayibo: wow
- Voetsek: go away
- Vry: kiss
- Slap chips: deep fried potato chips
- Sharp sharp: goodbye
- Bangbroek: scaredy pants
- Jip: yes
- Krimpie: old person
- Watookal: whatever
- Mooing: to flirt
- 442 (four four two): lies, lying
- Lulu: laugh
- Robot: traffic light
- Padkos: snacks for the road trip